Venue: Committee Room A, Town Hall, Royal Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1RS
Contact: Mark O'Callaghan Democratic Services Officer
Note: Please note that the public proceedings of the meeting will be recorded and made available for playback on the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council website
No. | Item |
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Apologies To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Thomson and Elliott. |
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Declarations of Interests To receive any declarations of interest by members of the Council in items on the agenda. For any advice on declarations of interest, please contact the Monitoring Officer before the meeting. Minutes: There were no disclosable pecuniary or other significant interests declared at the meeting. |
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Notification of Visiting Members Wishing to Speak To note any members of the Council wishing to speak, of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Meeting Procedure Rule 18, and which items they wish to speak on. Minutes: There were no visiting Members who had registered as wishing to speak. |
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Minutes of the meeting dated 22 August 2018 PDF 208 KB To approve the minutes of a previous meeting as a correct record. The only issue relating to the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy. Minutes: Members reviewed the minutes. No amendments were proposed.
RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting dated 22 August 2018 be approved as a correct record. |
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Work Programme as at 25 September 2018 PDF 189 KB Minutes: RESOLVED – That the Work Programme as at 25 September 2018 be noted. |
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Civil Penalty as an Alternative to Prosecution PDF 135 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Janice Greenwood, Private Sector Housing Manager and Claire Pickering, Environmental Health Officer, introduced the report which included the following comments:
The report set out how the Council would implement new enforcement powers contained in the Housing and Planning Act (2016), allowing financial penalties to be imposed as an alternative to prosecution for certain housing offences.
Civil penalties would provide an additional enforcement tool to improve accommodation in the private rented sector, adding to the options available for effective enforcement against criminal landlords. Income received from civil penalties would be retained by the Council.
The discussion included consideration of the following additional matters:
Although only two individuals had been prosecuted in the last ten years civil penalties did provide an alternative to prosecution. The time to process the penalties and provide ‘burden of proof’ would be the same as initiating prosecution. However, legal work would be reduced and there would not be time or resources required for court work.
RESOLVED – That the recommendations set out in the report be supported. |
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Minutes: Denise Haylett, the Head of Facilities and Community Hubs, introduced the report which included the following comments:
The original CCTV contract expired in 2016 and was extended for an additional 12 months until 31 March 2018 to allow options with Tonbridge and Malling Borough council to be explored. A decision was not reached at that time and a further and final extension was granted until 31 January 2019.
26 Expressions of Interest in the contract were submitted with 5 submissions received on time. 2 submissions qualified for interviews following evaluation of cost and quality assessments.
Supplier B (who scored highest) was the recommended contractor for the service which was a year-on-year contract and was for the staff to monitor and manage the CCTV equipment in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge and Malling.
The discussion included consideration of the following additional matters:
The three year budget for the contract allowed for any uplift in the living wage, pay reviews and pay rises, as identified in the registered risks.
It was decided that a year-on-year contract (over three years) was the preferred option as it allowed the Council to look at the existing partnership arrangements and look at whether there was a benefit to growing the business with additional cameras. It also provided an opportunity for the Council to withdraw from the contract at shorter notice.
It was requested that the scheduling of a review of the service be included and a report provided.
RESOLVED that, subject to a review of the CCTV monitoring service being undertaken within the first year of operation of the new contract, the recommendations be supported. |
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Urgent Business To consider any other items which the Chairman decides are urgent, for the reasons to be stated, in accordance with Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: There was no urgent business. |
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Date of the Next Meeting To note that the date of the next scheduled meeting is Wednesday 14 November 2018 at 6.30pm in Committee Room A, Town Hall, Tunbridge Wells. Minutes: It was noted that the date of the next scheduled meeting was Wednesday 14 November 2018 at 6.30pm in Committee Room A, Town Hall, Tunbridge Wells.
The following items were scheduled on the Forward Plan (which was subject to change) to be discussed:
· Cultural and Learning Hub Costs and Funding. |